MMBA

NOTICE: All posts made within this forum are the opinion and responsibility of
the individual making the post and do not necessarily represent the opinions or stance of the MMBA.
Questions or comments about individual posts should be directed to the post author(s).
Questions about the MMBA itself may be directed to info@mmba.org.

I rode the creek 4 times this weekend and keep forgetting to post this.

There is a huge oak tree down on the stretch leading to the very back loop on the intermediate.Probably 16" in diameter. Would make a great up and over if one were built on it.You can ride around it on the right side once you know its there but its slow.

Also a mud hole was present on the intermediate in the swamp area right after the two long boardwalks. Stay to the left side of it. The right side has a root or something that can stop your front end as the hole is getting deeper (not wider go figure). This might have changed with the rain.

Oh and at first we didn't wear any bug spray. Huge mistake. Actually left the trail to return to the car for spray before continuing.The guy in front of me literally had a cloud of deer flys in the slip stream behind his helmet between his shoulder blades.Crazy to see that when riding behind.We couldn't out run them totally.Any time you slowed down for an obstacle they attacked.Go prepared!!

Ionia State Recreation Area Trail Coordinator"They say that the journey can be more important than the destination. In Mountain biking there is no destination. Just the bike. The rider. And a place to ride." - Roam

The trail's quick but some of the sand is starting to appear again. There is a tree down just before the old log bridge behind the mobile home park. 10-12" in diameter. It will need a chain saw.

Also there is a good sized tree top is down to the south end of where the BMXr's hang out towards the end of the trail. You can ride around it without disrupting an MTB riders rhythm too much, but the BMXr's looked rather perplexed tonight. I vote we leave this tree there for now.

Shearer Road Trail is closed temporarily. There is heavy construction going on and we are losing some land. When the construction is finished we will reroute the trail and open it back up. Edwards Creek is still open

Rode Edwards Creek yesterday and the trail is not in very good shape. There are a few trees down, a lot of the log piles are shoddy/not rideable, there is a bit of garbage (i.e. glass, trash bags, condoms/wrappers and just generally a lot of debris on the trail (sticks, leaves, rocks) that made traction limited. I'd say it just needs to be ridden more and that would take care of most of the problems.

I also learned that EC is not very friendly to a 29er. I'd say that if you have a 26" bike, take that, cause it's a very tight/technical trail.

EC has taken a huge slide in the wrong direction. The momentum this trail had in it's infancy is gone. It needs some fresh blood in terms of a crew that is willing to bring it back to it's glory, really a shame what's happened there.

Sorry you wasted a trip coming all the way from Holland to ride. I'd disagree with you on not being 29er friendly. I'm running 29er, SS and although the trail blows, the bike rides it well.

I too rode EC this weekend.I didn't think it was that bad.I would say most of what I encountered could be attributed to the storms that went through. If any of the TCs also have storm damage then the priority is with their property first.

Big tree down after you exit the expert loop, cross the bridge, and get back on the intermediate.Think that one I had to crawl and drag my bike under to get through.Another one not to far down from there but heading in the opposite direction (I think). That one I had to push the bike over top of as it was about thigh high on me.Other than that the ride was good. The bridge obstacles still were functioning good I thought.

Biggest thing was little to no flys, which at Ionia is a killer at this time.

I still think its a fun and challenging course.

Ionia State Recreation Area Trail Coordinator"They say that the journey can be more important than the destination. In Mountain biking there is no destination. Just the bike. The rider. And a place to ride." - Roam

Rode EC yesterday afternoon. The trail is in great condition after the rains (and no mud either). A huge thanks to whoever raked the sand out of the low spots and chronic sand pits. What a huge difference that made along with the recent rains.

Rode Edwards Creek and Shearer Road yesterday. A little wet, slippery and slow at the moment, but these are fun trails that are under utilized. Go to Greenville and ride. Some clearing and cutting was being done yesterday, thank you to the maintenance crew.

Was able to stop and ride the trail on Saturday when I visited a friend and was very impressed with the mowing job and how clear the whole trail was. Somewhere around mile 5 or 6, just past the steel bench that appears to be part of an old fitness trail, there was a tree branch hanging low that you just had to duck your head and ride through but other than that no obstacles. It was sad to see how most of the stunts appeared unloved but I still rode them all (after inspecting them) - except the elevated bridge next to the creek that was completely grown over. A couple logs would make the boulder ride over doable again and the same with the log pile along the creek.